This past March and April, I wrote in the monthly column, Tomorrow’s Environment, about “How Much Is Too Much.” I addressed the topic of producing HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) contract documents (specifications and drawings) for building programs and infrastructure projects.

For more than a century, the building industry’s production of contract documents has progressively increased the number of specification pages and drawings, while dissecting the specification end product with part remaining in the specification, and other parts located on contract drawings. The results have been added consulting fee time to produce these contract documents. Also, via dissecting each equipment specification, contractor time has been increased to consolidate the specification and drawings puzzle.